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Letter #6 Delivered 19 Sep 21

Hi Craig,

Heeding your words about not getting research done I’ve decided to keep to a weekly cadence.

I’m now wondering which Lord George Murray you’re researching, as a quick search brings up a few of them over the years?

It’s good to hear that books are making it through. Though it’s sounding like you’re inundated with correspondence. My top pick from the selection I sent would be Accelerando. A colleague who read it at my recommendation many years ago was commenting a few days back that it’s one of the most memorable books he’s read, ‘especially the strange dreams’. You may also like that some of it is set in Edinburgh.

Part of my weekday routine is to take the dogs downstairs for lunch at midday, and I usually put BBC News 24 on in the background whilst I prepare something to eat. On Tuesday the channel was rebroadcasting Sturgeon’s keynote to the SNP virtual conference. It was pretty captivating. Across a whole range of topics I found myself wanting what she’s selling – climate, Europe, land reform, healthcare, education. The entire package. It’s easy to see why the cult of St Nicola is so strong. The cognitive dissonance of holding that together with the implications of your reporting must be too much for many people. For those of us who can deal with that dissonance what’s left is an almost suffocating level of disappointment and emptiness. Who can be the leader to deliver the package whilst not being mired in corruption?

Which brings us to BoZo’s reshuffle. Nadine Dorries! I can only imagine that she was made Secretary of State for Culture Wars because Hatie Kopkins isn’t an MP, and ennobling her would be too far even for this lot. I feel like I’ve seen this show before, with Major’s cabinet full of inadequates after a decade of power had chewed up and spat out anybody with gumption. But somehow this remake is much much worse.

And the dead cats keep bouncing. Vaccine passports. No vaccine passports. Changes to travel restrictions. Imperial weights and measures. On the latter point this from Prof Tanja Bueltmann really landed with me “Those who use the past to make policy in the present… do so because they have nothing to offer for the future. No solutions to pressing problems; no offering for the next generation. Just a big gaping hole. It’s bleak.” The press has not yet learned to see past distraction and keep their eye on the balls in play; which is why we need you back in front of a PC soonest.

Keep strong.

Best regards,
Chris

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Highlights of Craig’s reply

Yes, Nadine Dorries as culture secretary really is beyond satire. We live in some strange kind of earthly hell. Somebody else wrote me about the return of imperial measures, and I honestly thought they were joking.

Nicola Sturgeon is very convincing indeed… The banning of protests from near the Scottish parliament is a much better guide to what’s really happening.

Some books are reaching me, but only those bought through Blackwell’s I think. I don’t think any which are supposed to come via donation to the library have actually got here yet, including Accelerando.